Housing for a keyboard musical instrument

ABSTRACT

A HOUSING FOR A KEYBOARD MUSICAL INSTRUMENT HAS A PAIR OF SIDE BOARD ASSEMBLIES EACH COMPRISING OF AN INNER BOARD PROVIDED ON ITS ONE SIDE WITH PROJECTIONS SUPPORTING KEYBOARDS AND A KEY BED, AND AN OUTER BOARD FITTED TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE INNER BOARD WITH A PREDETERMINED SPACE THEREBETWEEN, THE INNER BOARD BEING MOLDED FROM PLASTICS MATERIAL INTEGRAL WITH THE PROJECTIONS. THE HOUSING BECOMES EASY OF ASSEMBLAGE AND IS IMPARTED A SENSE OF MASSIVENESS WITHOUT INCREASING ITS SUBSTANTIAL WEIGHT.

Sept. 28, 1971 SHUJI MURAK| I 3,608,415

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HOUSING FOR A KEYBOARD MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed May 20, 1970 v 2 Sheets-Sheet a I/ Q U 3| INVENTOR. SHVJI. MURAKI United States Patent 3,608,415 HOUSING FOR A KEYBOARD MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Shuji Muraki, Hamamatsu, Japan, assignor to Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha, Hamamatsu-shi, Shrzuoka-ken, Japan Filed May 20, 1970, Ser. No. 39,033 Claims priority, application Japan, May 26, 1969, 44/ 48,261 Int. Cl. Ge 3/02 US. Cl. 84177 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A housing for a keyboard musical instrument has a pair of side board assemblies each comprising of an inner board provided on its one side with projections supporting keyboards and a key bed, and an outer board fitted to the other side of the inner board with a predetermined space therebetween, the inner board being molded from plastics material integral with the projections. The housing be comes easy of assemblage and is imparted a sense of massiveness without increasing its substantial weight.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a housing or cabinet for a keyboard musical instrument and moreparticularly to an improved side board assembly for a keyboard musical instrument. With a prior art keyboard musical instrument, for example, an electronic organ as illustrated in FIG. 1, each side board 12 consisting of an upper section 10 and a lower section 11 is prepared from a single or plural wooden plates connected together. On the inner side of each side board there are fixed woodenblocks supporting keyboards 13, a key board 14, a top cover 15, etc. Further there is fixed to the inside of the side board 12 by adhesive or wood screws a keyboard covering guide plate 17 along the outer edge of which the foldable covering is allowed to slide.

However, the aforementioned construction of the conventional housing involved a large number of parts, and consumed a great deal of time and labor in assembling them. Further, the wood used as the side board was demanded to be of such high grade as was little subject to deformation. Processing of particularly the outer edge of said side board required much time, and in consequence high cost. Moreover, the provision of such side board unnecessarily increased the total weight of a housing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been accomplished to eliminate the aforesaid drawbacks encountered with the prior art housing and intended to provide a housing for a keyboard musical instrument having a pair of side board assemblies each comprising an inner member provided on its one side with projections supporting a keyboard or keyboards and a key bed, and an outer member fitted to the other side of the inner member with a predetermined space therebetween, said inner member being molded from plastics material integral with the projections, thereby prominently simplifying the assembly of parts reducing the total weight of the housing and enhancing its external appearance.

The aforesaid construction of a housing according to the present invention allows the outer member to be detachably fitted to the inner member, thereby facilitating the change of housing design or the repair or replacement of the outer member if it is damaged.

3,608,415 Patented Sept. 28, 1971 ice BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A housing or case for a keyboard musical instrument according to the present invention may be substantially identical in contour with that of the prior art keyboard musical instrument as shown in FIG. 1. The housing includes two right and left side boards each consisting of an upper section and a lower section extending substantially horizontal and vertical, respectively, and between these two side boards are supported a keyboard or keyboards, a key bed, a top cover, a keyboard covering, etc.

As shown in FIG. 2, the side board of the present invention consists of an inner board 20 whose upper section and lower section are integrally molded from plastics material, and an outer board assembly which is formed of a relatively thin single wooden piece, laminate or other suitable wooden material, and separated into sections 21a and 21b corresponding to the aforesaid upper and lower sections.

On the inside of the inner board 20 there are formed integrally therewith a support ledge (not shown) to secure the end of a top cover 15a, a stepped section 22 for slidably guiding one edge of a movable flexible keyboard covering 16a, a projection 23 for supporting a keyboard 13a and another projection 24 for supporting a key bed 14a. 0n the outside of the inner board 20 there are formed integrally therewith spacer sections 25 and partition ledges 26, and all along the peripheral edge of the inner board 10 there is formed integrally therewith an edge portion 27 to constitute the edge face of the side board.

The separate sections 21a and 21b of the outer board assembly are fitted into the spaces defined by the edge portion 27 and partition ledge 26 of the inner board 20 and detachably fitted to the inner board 20 by suitable means such as wood screws 28 introduced into the spacer sections 25.

It will be understood that the aforementioned construction of the housing enables the apparent thickness of the side board to be fully broadened without substantially increasing its weight, thereby elevating the design possibility of a keyboard musical instrument and imparting it a sense of massiveness, and further that since the inner board is molded from plastics material integral with various supporting projections on its inner side, the assemblage of the housing can be easily carried out without necessity for attaching separate supporting blocks in assemblage as in the conventional housing construction.

The integral fabrication of the upper and lower sections of the inner board involved in the side board as in the aforementioned embodiment requires a large mold, and if necessary the inner board may be divided into two separate sections 20a and 20b as shown in FIG. 3 corresponding to" the aforesaid upper and lower sections of the side board, with said two sections 20a and 20b being jointly connected by suitable means such as a wood screw 28a with the lower member 21b of the outer board assembly.

In FIG. 4, only upper section of the side board consists of a composite structure involving the inner and outer boards 30 and 31. The remaining lower section of the side board is formed of an ordinary single wooden plate 39. In this case, the aforesaid outer board 31 is molded from plastics material integral with an edge portion 37 cohstituting the edge face of the upper section of the side board and with spacer sections 35 and is detachably fitted to the inner board 30 by a wood screw 38. With such detachable arrangement, provision of a variety of spare outer boards 31a illustrated, for example, in FIG. 4A permits the housing design to be easily changed according to customers desire, and also the upper section of the side board which is relatively subject to damage to be repaired quickly.

What is claimed is:

1. A side board assembly of a housing for an organ comprising: an inner frame member provided on its one side with projections for supporting a keyboard and a key bed; and an outer decorative member fitted to the other side of said inner member; said inner member being molded from plastic material integral with said projections.

2. The side board assembly according to claim 1 wherein the outer member is detachably fitted to the inner member.

3. The side board assembly according to claim 1 wherein the outer member consists of a plurality'of separate plates.

4. The side board assembly according to claim 1, wherein the inner member has an edge portion integrally formed therewith which constitutes the edge face of the side board assembly.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,582,030 4/1926 Focke et a1. 84186 2,505,803 5/1950 Stein 84--177 2,839,961 6/1958 Scherer 84-376 3,262,350 7/1966 Johnson 84-177 RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner L. R. FRANKLIN, Assistant Examiner UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,608,Ml5 Dated September 28, 1971 MURAKI Shuj i Inventor-(s It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the claims, column L, line ll, insert the following:

5. The side board assembly according to claim 2, wherein the inner member has an edge portion integrally formed therewith which constitutes the edge face of the side board assembly.

6. The side board assembly according to claim 3, wherein the inner member has an edge portion integrally formed therewith which constitutes the edge face of the side board assembly. I

7. The side board assembly according to claim 1, wherein the outer member has an edge portion integrally formed therewith which constitutes the edge face of the side board assembly.

Column 1, line 11, "4 Claims" should read 7 Claims Signed and sealed this 1st day of August 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M-FLEICHER ,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents RM o-1050 {10-69 uscoMM-oc 50376-P69 9 U 5 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFF1C IQSQ 0-156-1 

